


Inferno Dreams

by leafiest_groves



Series: ☆ 𝓟𝓙𝓞/𝓗𝓞𝓞 𝓛𝓮𝓼𝓫𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓼 ☆ [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Crying, F/F, Girls Kissing, I Blame Tumblr, I Had To, I Made Myself Cry, The Author Regrets Nothing, Useless Lesbians, just has some lyrics that went with it, lowkey a songfic?, the feels really got to me, very light angst, wow I've been using that tag lately
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26211139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leafiest_groves/pseuds/leafiest_groves
Summary: Getting ready for Saturnalia isn’t something anyone expected Faiza Zhang and Leah Valdez to do together.
Relationships: Leo Valdez/Frank Zhang
Series: ☆ 𝓟𝓙𝓞/𝓗𝓞𝓞 𝓛𝓮𝓼𝓫𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓼 ☆ [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903603
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Inferno Dreams

Getting ready for Saturnalia isn’t something one expected Faiza Zhang and Leah Valdez to do together, but Jeanette had run off to go help Pandorika, Nikita and Willow were thoroughly preoccupied with each other, which left the two of them with hardly any option but to do this together.

The fading dusk light is being taken over by the darkness of twilight, and while the sky is cloaked in soft violet and red, Faiza and Leah are in white and gold. 

A light flickers off, and then another, and soon they’re both standing without really being able to see one another. “Should I just-“ Leah gestures vaguely to a candle that Faiza knows is beside them, before running over to light it. The soft crackle of the fire taking life is the only sound in the room besides Faiza’s even breathing and the odd noise from outside on the streets, where evryone is gearing up for the time of their lives, give or take a few teenage girls. Faiza is suddenly distracted by how Leah’s focused expression looks in the firelight, the flame casting a wreathlike halo of shimmering ochre over her curly topknot. She makes a noise as if to say something, but turns away, fussing with the rollers and starting to curl her hair into neat ringlets.

Leah looks at Faiza in silence. It’s brushed off easily enough, Faiza has long since learned to think nothing of Leah’s stares. Leah on the other hand, is just lost for a moment, before she sidles up to murmur, “Faiza, I-“ She’s cut off by how quickly Faiza turns to face her. Her gaze has always been intense, something Leah has always thought was a side effect of being a child of war, but up close, it's nerve wracking for anyone unused to it. One eyebrow raised, Faiza looks to her expectantly. The entire momentary awkwardness barely lasts a few seconds, Leah is determined to get her point across. “I think,” she starts, “I think you’re so caught up in being afraid of fire, that you forget how beautiful it makes you look.”

Faiza blinks, and for a moment the usual intensity is gone, though it returns soon enough. Leah on the other had, is preoccupied with how Faiza looks while bathed in firelight. She has always looked akin to a war goddess in her fiercest moments, but right now, she looks queenly, impossibly regal. Leah sets the last of Faiza's curls into place, threading a thin gold chain through another braid that will get pinned to the back of her head.

Leah’s mind is busy while she occasionally looks tentatively at Faiza through the mirror. Faiza seems to fidget with her billowly sleeves while trying to figure out how she wants to word what she’s trying to say. “You really -“ Faiza meets Leah’s eyes in the mirror, looking over herself. The soft candlelight off to her side is sputtering in the gentle breeze that’s starting to pick up. Its soft amber light washes over her like watercolor bleeding through paper, and the striking contrast of the shadows in the room make her appear to be a dramatized portrait in the sheen of the looking-glass in front of her. 

“Do you really mean that?” 

Faiza barely manages the whisper, but it’s enough for Leah to hear as her hands still in their work. The golden candleflame reflects in Leah’s eyes, giving a highlight to those beautiful deep set almond eyes, that have always looked like melted chocolate in the right lighting. In the place of Leah’s familiar cheshire grin is a soft, almost fond smile. “Obviously. I don’t say things like that without meaning it.” Faiza breathes easy, and a smile is pulling at the corners of her own lips. The hairstyle (which has taken far too much time already) is finally done, and in a moment of boldness, Leah leans down to loop her arms around Faiza’s shoulders, pulling her closer in a gentle hug. Her head is in the crook of Faiza’s neck, and her eyes turn to Faiza in an attempt to silently convey an emotion that she can’t seem to put into words. Faiza’s hand moves upward, and for a wild moment Leah think she’ll push her off, but instead, Faiza tangles their fingers together until they’re holding hands tightly.

The wind finally gets the better of the candle, and Leah reluctantly pulls back to go relight it, only to be stopped by Faiza reaching over to grab her forearm. 

“Y’know, there’s no need to do that,” Faiza says, matter of factly, before getting up to stand beside her. Leah looks up at her and she looks ~~just like a deer in headlights~~ confused. Faiza picks up the candle, feeling the lingering warmth of the cooling wax settle into her skin despite the coldness of the air tonight. She tugs Leah closer by her hand, leaving her to watch as Faiza is for some indiscernable reason holding her hand. Somewhat awkwardly, she says, “It’s Saturnalia, yeah? And we’re done in here, so we might as well light this on the balcony outside.” Leah’s doe-eyed gaze meets her for a fleeting instant before she nods, and Faiza has to look away while she practically pulls Leah along to the balcony.

_There she was, my new best friend,_  
_High heels in her hand, swayin' in the wind,_

  
  
Leah’s fingers graze the wick of the candle ever-so-softly before it goes up in flame once more. They turn to look at each other instead of at some vague point in the city. It’s almost as if they’re unaware that they’ve locked eyes, and they stare at each other as if trying to unravel some indecipherable mystery. It’s altogether too much for Leah, who can’t help the tightness in her chest as a few tears begin to well up behind her lashes. Without thinking, she pulls up the hand still holding Faiza’s to wipe them away, and is surprised when Faiza holds her wobbly chin with their joined hands and wipes away her tears with the other, runny makeup be damned.

_While she starts to cry,_

_Mascara running down her little Bambi eyes,_

_"Lana, how I hate those guys._ _”_

“What’s wrong?” 

Faiza’a voice is uncharacteristically soft, but somewhere in Leah’s mind is a whispering voice telling her that this is _genuine_ , and taking a gamble on that voice, Leah lets the vulnerability flow into their conversation, even as the tears flood in once again. 

“I just..” 

Her voice drifts off, “I can’t anymore with you.” Her voice takes on a somewhat accusatory tone, and her companion is met with angry eyes before she covers her face with her free hand in exasperation. “I don’t _understand_ you Faiza,” she says finally, as if cementing it once and for all. “I don’t get why you’re being like this to me all of a sudden.” Faiza lets her continue without interrupting, and guilt flashes over her the moment Leah says it. “Is it such a bad thing that I wish you’d make a little more sense? That you'd be clear about what you want from me?” Faiza looks like she’s about to cry herself, but the tears never come, and Leah envies her that control. She has no idea why she’d been so upset, but hell if she wouldn’t let it all out now before she could think about regretting it or taking it back. “You’ve been so hot-and-cold with me! And I still don’t even know why!” All the memories of Faiza’s odd back and forth replay like a broken record. “What did I ever do to you?” She glares, knowing Faiza will be taken aback by the question. “I don’t why we’re like this, I don’t know why _I’m_ like this, but I feel like I deserve an explanation.” 

Faiza defies all remaining logic by pulling Leah close, and she whispers into Leah’s neck. 

“I’m sorry. Gods, I can’t believe myself - I’m so sorry.” 

It’s a miracle what a simple apology is capable of conveying, and something tells Leah that now is not the time to get answers for everything she wants to hear from Faiza. Not while she’s an emotional wreck, with no idea why she’s crying so badly, or why that little whispered confession is enough to untangle the knot of confused anger that she has for Faiza, but it’s beyond her right now. She feels faintly, that this must be a hallucination, a lucid, but still crazy hallucination. However, Faiza’s racing heart, the tightness of her grip on Leah’s hand and around her waist, the weight of her head on Leah’s neck, her faint breathing, they all fight for her attention at once, and it’s enough to convice her that this is, in some insane way, reality.

_This is what makes us girls,  
We don't stick together 'cause we put love first,_

The faraway shouts of “Io Saturnalia!” doesn’t seem to reach them, and when they finally untangle from each other when the fireworks begin to go off, burning through the glittering night sky, Leah’s incredulous laughter is enough to put Faiza at ease. It occurs to her that she hasn’t let go of Leah’s hand all this time, and that they’ll probably be missing the festivities. It ceases to matter. This moment between them isn’t for anyone else's ears, and it’s enough of a comfort that even the thought of being unable to attend the banquet is incapable of willing them away from each other.

Out of the blue, Leah poses a question, “Faiza, do you think this lipstick goes with your clothes?” Faiza quizically looks at the tube Leah is holding up, before somewhat reluctantly nodding, “Yeah, I guess so?” Leah’s cheshire grin is back, and Faiza is confused once more when Leah puts that lipstick on her own mouth. “Wait, didn’t you ask if it would go with _my-_ ” She’s cut off rather quickly when Leah reaches up to her shoulder pull Faiza into a kiss, and the noise of the city around them fades to practically nothing in Faiza’s ears, the only thing she can hear is her own heart thudding in her chest. Her free hand tilts Leah’s chin up and draws her nearer, and the whole world may drink and make merry as it pleased, because in the shimmering glow of the fire, the only thing that would draw either of these ladies’ eyes was the other, and even as the firelight goes out, and they no longer shimmer like twin stars in billowy gold and white, it doesn’t matter. Saturnalia night carries on somewhere vague and detached from them, and Faiza leans to press her forehead to Leah’s, and she's absolutely _lost_ in that glorious, breathless smile. 

_“You’ll stay with me, won’t you?”_

_“I wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else.”_

**Author's Note:**

> I may have let my imagination run away from me? A friend and I were discussing the bare-bones idea behind this and it stuck with me for some reason. Again, this is a ship I have a huge soft spot for, and I think that's what made me want to write this so badly. I think I like writing vignettes better than longer stories. I hope you liked it, and if you did, letting me know in the comments would be appreciated just as much as leaving kudos. Thank you for reading, and as always, I only hope you enjoy! 
> 
> ~ Love, Leafy


End file.
